"An area of 150X100 feet [about two fifths of an acre] is generally
sufficient to supply a family of five persons with vegetables, not
considering the winter supply of potatoes; but the acres must be
well tilled and handled." (Bailey, "Principles of Vegetable
Gardening.")
"The produce that could thus be obtained from an acre of land well
situated would abundantly supply with nearly all the vegetables
named, nineteen families, comprising in all 114 individuals."
In our garden we must know what we want and know how to get it.
(It is impossible to treat exhaustively of the various crops in a
book of this kind. On onion culture alone there are four standard
books, besides seven or eight recent experimental station bulletins.
"In a family garden 100 X 150 feet (which equals six New York City
lots), the rows running the long way of the area, eight or ten feet
may be reserved along one side for asparagus, rhubarb, sweet herbs,
flowers, and possibly a few berry bushes. A strip twenty feet wide
may be reserved for vines, as melons, cucumbers and squashes. There
remains a strip seventy feet wide, or space for twenty rows three
and one half feat apart. This area is large enough to allow of
appreciable results in rotation of crops; and i! it is judiciously
managed, it should maintain high productiveness for a lifetime."
(Bailey, "Principles of Vegetable Gardening."))
"The things to be considered in the home garden are: (1) a
sufficient product to supply the family; (2) continuous succession
of crops; (3) ease and cheapness of cultivation; (4) maintenance of
the productivity of the land year after year.
"The ease and efficiency of cultivation are much enhanced if
all crops are in long rows, to allow of wheel-tool tillage either by
horse or wheel-hoe."
The experience of the Vacant Lot Gardeners (Chapter IV) shows that
if the land be near a large market where the product can be peddled
or sold by the producers or by those (as in Mr. Rowe's case), with
whom he directly deals, more than twenty-five dollars capital is not
necessary, but Peter Henderson ("Gardening for Profit") estimates
that to get the best results, $300 capital per acre is required for
anything less than ten acres.
Where the land is favorably situated a fortune may be made in
cultivation of a few acres--with brains.
Quinn says ("Money in the Garden") that he knows a large number of
market gardeners worth from ten to forty thousand dollars each, none
of whom had five hundred dollars to begin with.
If one has not enough money to get all that can be gotten out of his
plot, it is best to put part of the land into clover to fit it for
later use or to use it for raising grass.
Results undoubtedly come from hard work; but it is not necessary, in
order to cultivate a little land successfully, that you should work
all day on your hands and knees; if you can raise fruit or nuts,
this is not needed at all.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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